Flats management company formation within 3-8 hours!

Flat (property) management company formation in the UK: new flat (property) management companies are being registered all the time, and the UK is currently booming with business registration. If you are interested in opening a flat (property) management company in Great Britain soon, Coddan can help. Call us and speak with one of our consultants. There is no cost or obligation, let us help you to establish a new flat management company. By focusing on a specific profile of the client, we are in a better position to continually evolve and develop our services. It also means we are never compromising on our level of flats management company incorporation service; Coddan operates on the team basis, with a highly trained range of staff that can satisfy your flats management company startup needs.

Flats management company limited by guarantee registration

£149.89

NO ANNUAL CHARGES

Recommended for

1

option

This package is for customers who want the simplest flats management company registration with Barclays, Lloyds, or RBS bank account (optional), all corporate documents produced electronically.

The following documents will be e-mailed to you upon the registration of flat management company limited by guarantee:

£164.89

NO ANNUAL CHARGES

Recommended for

2

option

This is the basic flat management company limited by guarantee startup with bank account (optional) package with additional documents produced electronically & the laminated certificate will be send by post.

This flats management company formation offer includes all services mentioned in the first option, plus:

£164.89

NO ANNUAL CHARGES

Recommended for

2

option

This is the basic flats or property management company formations package for such customers, who have a valid address in the UK, with additional documents produced electronically & the laminated certificate will be send by post.

This company start-up offer includes all services mentioned in the first option, plus:

£214.89

ANNUAL FEES FROM £75.00

Recommended for

4

option

This is the most popular flats management company establishment packages for British customers & expatriates who are looking to get a registered address alongside with the UK properties management company start-up.

This offer includes all FM LTD registration benefits & items mentioned into the second option, plus the provision of:

Registering a flat management company in London, Edinburgh or in Belfast!

Many people assume that registration a flat (property) management company in the United Kingdom is just the same as an ordinary limited company by shares, or a company limited by guarantee, when really it is anything but - registering a flat (property) management company in the UK can actually be much more advantageous than registering a limited company for the property management elsewhere in the UK.

UK flat (property) management companies (FMCs) are different to company limited by shares or limited by guarantee incorporation, and they offer unique benefits of their own. A registered flat (property) management company can hold assets in its own name, as well as owning assets, entering into contracts, borrowing money and owning property. The flat (property) management company registration process of a FMC is complicated and detailed, but Coddan makes it simple and stress-free.

Coddan offers services in public, private and flat (property) management companies registration in UK. The flat (property) management company registration agency has an online platform for convenient FMC registration with banking account, including certification of flat (property) management company documents by apostille. Coddan gives the advice needed in registering a flat (property) management companies in UK and opening a business bank account. The flat (property) management company registration agency's consultants are experts in flat (property) management company registration matters, and they offer guidance in every step of the legal processes.

Register a flat (property) management company in the UK: we're experts in flat (property) management company registration across the UK and as one of our clients you will benefit from a range of flat (property) management company registration in UK advantages. We work quickly and efficiently to register your UK flat (property) management company as soon as possible, and we can set up flat (property) management company in Scotland in just a few hours, and if you need, we can provide nominee officers. We can assist you in running your UK flat (property) management company in a number of ways, though it is important to remember that we are not here to run your business for you; we cannot make binding decisions for the businesses.

If you are looking to register a flat (property) management company in England, Wales, Scotland and/or Northern Ireland, Coddan can help you. We offer a friendly and approachable UK flat (property) management company registration service tailored to your needs; you won't regret working with Coddan. Don't hesitate - get in touch with us today by phone or e-mail, if you have any questions about how to register a flat (property) management company, or about the flat (property) management company registration procedure in UK.

Flats or a property management company registration from £149.89

Sameday flats management company registration: a flat (property) management company, or an FMC, is an alternative way to structure your business and has many advantages over a self-employed or traditional partnership if used correctly. Therefore, if you are thinking of UK flat (property) management company registration, get in touch with Coddan for help and advice and ask about our new flats management company registration package that saves you money. A flat (property) management company registration is complex to setting up than a standard private company, and there are additional costs involved, so it might not be the most effective structure for everyone. However, if you are thinking of a flat (property) management company registration and get help, and then get in touch with Coddan for expert flat (property) management company incorporation advice. If you need an assistance with a flat (property) management company registrations in UK, you can also speak to our business advisors between 9.30am-6.00pm Monday to Friday by telephoning + (0) 207.935.5171 or + (0) 330.808.0089 (national rates).

Setting-up of a flat (property) management company with Coddan is simple and quick process

What is a flat management company? In law, a limited company is a 'person' in its own right. This means it can own property (such as a freehold or leasehold) and enter into contracts in its own name. It exists independently and separately from the people involved. When a property is divided into a number of flats, each flat owner usually has a lease of their own flat but they may also hold shares in a management company that owns the freehold (or lease) of the entire building.

As shareholders, the flat owners have their say in running the limited company. Normally, the company's constitution will say that shareholders who sell their flats must also transfer their shares to the new owners.

This ensures that - at any given time - the limited company represents the interests of all the current flat owners. However, it remains a separate legal entity regardless of who holds its shares from time to time. A limited company would also be set up to own and manage the common parts of a development made up of separate units under "commonhold".

This type of company is called a "commonhold association". Flat management companies typically manage common parts of the building. They may have other responsibilities. Your property probably has parts common to all the flat owners living in it: boundaries, roofs, halls, drives and gardens being typical examples. These require maintenance, insurance, lighting, etc. These costs are funded by the individual flat owners, who make periodic contributions into a pooled fund.

If your company just pays a few bills, perhaps for repair or maintenance, then your advisor may say that these payments need not go through the company's books. Less formal arrangements, such as collecting the money through a residents association, may be satisfactory. The company could then continue to own the freehold (or head lease) of the property, but all its accounting transactions would be conducted elsewhere - the company would then be 'dormant'.

Accounts would still have to be prepared, presented to members, and delivered to Companies House, but all that would mean is a simple 'nil' balance sheet that does not have to be audited. The prime purpose of limited companies is to limit the liabilities of entrepreneurs who use them for business purposes. In exchange for this limited liability, companies are required to make certain information about themselves available to the public.

This information is filed at Companies House. The timing and presentation of the information is governed by law. Flat management companies, although mostly formed for a different purpose, are governed by the same legislation - primarily, the Companies Act.

It does not allow flat management companies to be treated any differently to other companies. Managing the business of the company is the responsibility of its officers. Legally, all companies must have: at least one director (unless the company is a PLC); and a company secretary. A sole director cannot also be the company secretary. There must be two officers. The directors and secretary manage the company on behalf of the members. Among other things, they are responsible for holding meetings and ensuring that all the necessary returns, accounts and other documents reach Companies House by the due date.

Residential association, flat and property management companies can be registered in 4-8 working hours, on receipt of the proposed company's name, the name of the property concerned and details of the issued share capital. It has special Memorandum and Articles of Association drawn up to allow it to own, manage and administer a freehold property, which is normally divided into several dwelling units or flats, with each leaseholder owning a share in the company and may require specific clauses within the memorandum & articles of association. Flat management companies are not available off the shelf.

Form a flat management company online in minutes at lawyer-free prices. Coddan was developed by expert attorneys with experience at the most prestigious law firms in the country. We've helped over 50,000 satisfied customers, and our know-how allows us to prepare legal documents quickly and efficiently. Our documents contain advanced provisions that are not found in simple "do-it-yourself" kits or manuals.

UK flats management company establishment from £149.89

We offer a range of services for business, including flat management company creation, registered office address in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and in Northern Ireland. We have been offering UK property management company registration, nominee directors, nominee secretarial and associated services for over 10 years.

Coddan provides a wide range of corporate services including: company and partnership formation (private companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, PLC public limited companies, flat management companies, joint venture and subsidiary companies, companies with bearer shares and LLP limited liability partnerships). We offer business advice to flat management companies, including incorporation and corporate secretary services. We can help to set up (incorporate) a flat management company under the Companies Act for the benefit of residents or tenants.

With our new online electronic company incorporation system, we take you through each step of your business formation process as quickly and as simply as possible. Coddan provides a cost-effective, rapid service for incorporating companies. Our UK company registration process is completely electronic, with no forms to complete, making us one of the few fully-electronic company formation services in the UK.

All you need to do is tell us the name of the company that you would like to form and then leave the rest to us. Your new limited company will normally be formed within 4-8 working hours of request, and minutes later you will receive your Certificate of Incorporation by email. Documents we send you via email for the electronic package are: certificate of incorporation - in .PDF format, memorandum & articles of association, first minutes of directors meeting, share certificates, registers of members, directors and secretaries, directors interests and company charges.

Additional services are available. With all of our formations, the Certificate of Incorporation, the Memorandum of Association and the Articles of Association are all sent to you electronically, by email as Adobe Acrobat files. Acrobat is a free reader program so you don't need anything else to view and print your documents.

It's a simple process to register your company. All you need to do is use the free availability check to see if your chosen company name is available. If so, then fill out a few details using the online forms, enter your payment details, and submit your application. No documents to sign. We form companies with you as the first directors, secretary and shareholders. Our online order form is a completely web based application, whereby all the company details are entered into our system and submitted electronic through The Companies House filing service.

How does a flat management company work?

In law, a limited company is seen as an 'individual' in its own right. This means it can own property (such as a freehold or leasehold) and enter into contracts in its own name. It exists independently and separately from the people involved.

Why have a flat management company?

Flat management companies are companies used to manage the whole of or parts of a site or building on behalf of its owners. When there are multiple tenants, Flat management companies are normally used to protect the interests of the leaseholders. In shared properties there are often a number of areas that are common and used by all flat/unit residents.

For example, communal halls, access areas and gardens. By having a flat management company you can establish a system for collecting pooled funds in order to maintain and repair any common areas. If the company will not own the freehold for the entire property then it may not be appropriate to have a flat management company. A residents association may be more suitable.

The constituation of a flat management company

A British flat management company has its memorandum and articles of association specially drawn up to allow the company to own, manage and administer the property, which is normally divided into several dwellings, units or flats. When a property is divided into a number of flats, each flat owner has a lease of their own flat but they may also hold shares in a management company that owns the freehold (or lease) of the entire building.

Transfer of shares - change of the ownership

As shareholders, the flat owners have their say in running the limited company. Normally, the company's constitution will say that shareholders who sell their flats must also transfer their shares to the new owners. This ensures that - at any given time - the limited company represents the interests of all the current flat owners. However, it remains a separate legal entity regardless of who holds its shares from time to time.

Service charge funds & sinking funds: background

Many tenants and owners of properties in the UK make contributions to management companies and various service charge funds or sinking funds. These funds pay for a variety of services and sometimes accumulate money for future repairs. Typically, residents of a block of flats will all pay a set amount each year into a fund.

That fund will either pay for joint day to day running costs of the block, such as cleaners and minor repairs, or funds will be put aside to pay for future major expenditure such as a roof repair. Some funds may do both within one fund. The charges may typically be paid to a management company, which could manage just that block of flats or any number of blocks. Sometimes residents of a block will set up their own management company, residents' association or trust to receive the funds and carry out the work. Sometimes the landlord/freeholder holds the funds and organises the work.

Funds created

Typically there are two main types of fund to which Section 42 LTA 1987 applies.

Sinking Funds involve the long term setting aside of funds for major repairs and renewals. Over a period, the fund can grow to a significant size and generate substantial investment income.

Service Charge Funds are funds where the intention is to cover only the routine day to day costs of maintaining the communal areas and paying for minor repairs and decorations. The service charges are reviewed annually and set at a level to balance the actual expenditure and leave a 'no surplus - no deficit' situation at the end of each year. In practise there may be a small amount held in reserve or carried over from the previous year. The trust will not accumulate any surplus charges or create any sort of contingency or sinking fund. Any investment income is derived only from the short- term deposit of temporarily surplus funds.

Some trusts will act both as a sinking fund and as a service charge fund, although usually the trustees would keep the two funds separate. There are a number of different situations in which sinking funds or service charge funds may be created. Not all of these will necessarily fall within the scope of Section 42 LTA 1987.

Tenants of rented property

Under the terms of a rental contract either the tenant or the landlord will be responsible for repairing the property. If the landlord includes in the rent payable some figure to cover his repairing obligations the fact that the payment by the tenant will be part of his rent will not preclude the operation of Section 42 LTA 1987. However, in order to fall within the definition of 'service charge' the amount must be variable according to the costs or estimated costs of repairs etc.

So if the lease simply states that part of the rents payable will be used for servicing, repairs and maintenance etc. for which the landlord is then responsible then the matter is outside Section 42 LTA 1987 because the payments by the tenants do not amount to a 'service charge' as defined in Section 18 LTA 1985. The whole of the rent will be Schedule A income of the landlord.

Leaseholder owners of property

Under the terms of the lease the leaseholder may have to pay into a service charge fund or sinking fund. The funds may be paid to an individual, a company, a trust or an unincorporated association. As the owner owns the property under a lease, the LTA 1987 will apply. If the lease specifies contributions are to be made to a service charge fund or sinking fund then an accumulation trust exists whether the funds are paid to an individual, a company, a trust or an unincorporated association.

The body holding the funds may not consider themselves to be trustees, for example a company. However if Section 42 LTA 1987 applies then the company will be holding the funds as a trustee. If the lease stipulates that tenants must pay a service charge for particular services to a service company which is not the landlord, connected with the landlord or stipulated by the landlord, this too is within Section 42 LTA 1987. In that Section 'the payee' is defined as 'the landlord or other person to whom any such charges are payable by those tenants under the terms of their leases'.

If the lease states that the tenants should arrange for services, repairs and maintenance etc. themselves but does not specify how this should be done, any arrangement made by the tenants with a service company is outside the scope of Section 42 LTA 1987. The costs in respect of service charges are not made either to the landlord or to another person to whom such charges are payable under the terms of the lease.

Finally where there is no provision in the lease for the tenants to pay into a service charge fund, but nevertheless they decide to create one, then such an arrangement is not within Section 42 LTA 1987 as the tenants are not 'required under the terms of their leases to contribute to the same costs by the payment of service charges'.

Freehold owners of property

Under the terms of sale of a freehold property (a covenant of some sort) the freeholders may have to pay into a service charge fund or sinking fund. The funds may be paid to an individual, a company, a trust or an unincorporated association. Such an arrangement does not come within Section 42 LTA 1987 as it is not under the terms of a lease.

Alternatively there may be no provision to create a service charge fund or sinking fund but the freeholders together decide to form one. They may decide to pay those contributions to an individual, a company, a trust or an unincorporated association. Again this is a private arrangement not governed by Section 42 LTA 1987 and the tax treatment depends on what the freeholders decide is going to hold the funds.

Registered social landlords & other 'exempt landlords'

Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) are, in England and Wales, independent, private sector, non-profit making bodies whose main purpose is to provide decent quality, affordable housing for people on low incomes. About three-quarters of them are charities.

Section 42 LTA 1987 does not apply to tenants of 'exempt landlords' (Section 42(1) LTA 1987). In accordance with Section 58(1)(g) LTA 1987 a RSL is an exempt landlord. There are other exempt landlords defined in Section 58(1)&(1A) LTA 1987 such as district councils and certain development corporations. See TSEM5745 where Section 58(1)&(1A) LTA 1987 is reproduced.

Whilst Section 42 LTA 1987 does not apply to RSLs and other exempt landlords, as explained below, the terms under which sinking funds and/or service charge funds are held by exempt landlords may still create a trust. Thus, in summary, reference must be made to the terms of the lease to determine the application of Section 42 LTA 1987.

A statutory trust will arise where the tenants of two or more dwellings are required under the terms of their leases to contribute to the payment of variable service charges to the landlord or other persons to whom such charges are payable under the terms of the leases. However, Section 42 LTA 1987 does not apply where the landlord is an 'exempt landlord'.

Funds not within s. 42 LTA 1987

Where a fund exists but it is not within Section 42 LTA 1987, for example where freehold owners of property decide to create a sinking fund, or because the landlord is an RSL or other 'exempt landlord', then the treatment of that fund will depend on what structure is used.

An individual holds the funds. The individual could be an employee, trading as a maintenance contractor or could hold funds as trustee for the freeholders. If the latter then the sort of trust depends on the terms of the trust, not on Section 42 LTA 1987.

A company holds the funds. Assuming the company was formed to hold funds for the freeholders who created it, then it could hold the funds as trustee. Alternatively it could trade as a flat management company receiving payments under a contractual arrangement to supply services and pay corporation tax. The status of the fund will depend on the terms under which the payments are made and the terms under which the company holds the funds.

A trust holds the funds. It could be any sort of trust depending on the terms of the deed but it would not be within Section 42 LTA 1987. An unincorporated association holds the funds. This could, for example. be a residents' association. It would be liable to corporation tax unless it was acting as a trustee. Again any trust would not be within Section 42 LTA 1987. Any funds that the trustees held would be subject to the normal trust rules. It is possible for the funds to be held under a bare trust, interest in possession trust, discretionary trust or accumulation trust arrangement. The exact status will depend on the terms and nature of the trust agreement.

Investment income previously charged to corporation tax

In the past some flat management companies have been permitted to make returns in respect of investment income, arising on service charge funds and sinking funds, as part of their corporation tax returns (see PIM1070). That is no longer appropriate where trustees are holding funds as trustees under Section 42 LTA 1987. Likewise where Section 42 LTA 1987 does not apply but the terms under which the funds are held creates a trust.

Rents receivable by flat management companies (such as ground rents - other than peppercorn rents) are outside the scope of Section 42 LTA 1987 and remain chargeable under Schedule A. Tax Bulletin Issue 37 (October 1998) explained the approach the Inland Revenue will take for all flat management companies as from 1 April 1998. However, because of the need to issue further guidance in Tax Bulletin Issue 48 (August 2000), no action will ordinarily be taken to disturb any year or Accounting Period for which a Corporation Tax return has already been made and accepted.

Where a trust return has not previously been made by a flat management company, or a trustee, of investment income arising from a fund within Section 42 LTA 1987 (or from funds otherwise specifically held on trust), the trustees will have the normal obligation to notify chargeability.

Notification from the tax office

Where you receive a notification from a tax office dealing with the company's corporation tax, that a flat management company trust has been identified, you should set up a new record, and issue any trust SA returns, which are required. The company tax office will advise you as to the date from which trust liability first arises, and this can be from any date in the tax year. If for example the CTSA return covers the accounting period to 31st August 1999, the first period of trust SA liability will be the part year from 1 September 1999 to 5 April 2000.